How do George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson compare to each other?
There are few similarities between all three other than that they fought for Independence. But there are some pairs that show similarity. Adams and Washington were ideologically closer, Adams having been Washington’s VP, both being for the stronger Federal government of the Constitution. Adams and Jefferson were both ideological leaders rather than military or natural ones, and represent in many ways the early differences in ideas about how the country should be governed, top down (Adams) or bottom up (Jefferson) Jefferson and Washington were both Virginians, slaveholders, and planters. All three believed that natural law should serve as a template for temporal authority. Jefferson and Washington both came from a high church Episcopalian background, while Adams was a New England Congregationalist/Unitarian. Jefferson, once he fell out of church attendance, said that he actively practiced no religion but felt more personal affinity for Unitarianism than other denominations.
